With the advent of the Internet and a decline in computer prices, many people are communicating with one another through computers interconnected by networks. A number of different communications programs have been developed to facilitate such communications between computer users. One type of communication program is the instant messaging (IM) client program. An IM client program typically has a user interface that presents representations of a user's selected buddies (i.e., other users of the IM program selected by the user). When a buddy's IM client program is connected to the network and the buddy is available, a user may communicate or interact with the buddy using the IM client program. For example, the user may use the IM client program to engage in a real-time textual messaging session with the buddy.
At times, a user may be away from his or her computer or otherwise unavailable to engage in communications with a buddy, even though his or her IM client program is connected to the network or otherwise available for communications. In such a situation, a user typically is considered to be “away.” Some IM client programs allow users to configure a preset and global “away message” that is sent as a textual message to any buddy that attempts to message the user while the user's IM client program is configured in an away mode.
At other times, a user may be offline. An offline user is unavailable to engage in communications with a buddy because the user's IM client program is not connected to the network. An offline user may remain offline and unavailable to communicate for an extended period of time.